


A Chrysanthemum in the Garden of Poisonous Blossoms

by matrixrefugee



Category: In the garden of poisonous flowers (Caitlin R. Kiernan), 闇の末裔 | Yami No Matsuei | Descendants of Darkness
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 07:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17914856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matrixrefugee/pseuds/matrixrefugee
Summary: Inspired by my long-running roleplay with a dear friend - Muraki and Aramat have a mutual understanding of each other's tastes...





	A Chrysanthemum in the Garden of Poisonous Blossoms

**Author's Note:**

> Written for "fic_promptly"s [Author's Choice, Author's Choice, a warm bed on a cold winter morning ](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/95872.html?thread=4485760#cmt4485760) Crossover between Yami no Matsuei and Caitlin R. Kiernan's "Alabaster". Muraki/Aramat. Happy Birthday, [](http://pashchan.livejournal.com/profile)[pashchan](http://pashchan.livejournal.com/)!

A December morning, chilly with a vague hint of frost, which kept Aramat in bed longer than usual, nestled with the exotic creature who had arrived quite mysteriously some weeks before and whom she had sequestered in her bedchamber for some days till he chose to show his pale face in the twilight and shadows of Stephans Ward. Isolde had sniffed at the choice of a bedwarmer: a male no less and Aramat's appetites were well-known to run to the distaff and not to the spear. But Aramat had introduced the man as her brother, despite their differences in height, complexion and origins.

He had, however, made himself useful to the rest of the ladies of the Stephens Ward Tea League and Society of Resurrectionists, attending their soirees and delighting them with tales from the Far East, and presiding over their gatherings about the marble slab in the basement. His talents were welcome, though his fondness for Samuel's young men meant the ingratiating wretch made his presence known more often than Aramat cared, but it was a fair trade to make for an expert among them.  
She stirred on the pile of red velvet covered pillows at the head of the bed, shifting in his arms, which unfurled at her movements, only to clasp her again, as he might one of the Jumeaux dolls that he had liberated from the local antique shops.

"Kazu, are you awake?" she asked.

"Mmm, I was dreaming that I was awake, till you shifted an eased me back into sleep," he murmured, nuzzling his face into the nest of her hair. "What time is it?"

"It's nearly eleven in the morning," she said.

"Mmm, on a day in December, no less," he replied, and the tip of his prehensile tongue probed her ear gently.

"Are you trying to devour me, dear brother?" she asked, wriggling out of his grasp and reaching for the peignoir which he had flung the night before, which had caught on a picture frame.

"That might be one way to have breakfast in bed, but it would leave you hungry and me sated," he replied, settling back on the pillows.

"I can always ring for a meal," she said, leaning down to kiss him.  
He wrinkled his lower lip in a moment of displeasure, as she pulled away; he lay back on the pillows, naked, posed like a Roman river god though he was more a creature of fire and air. "Leaving me to go hungry? I'll be cold without you."

"I had a surprise arranged for you," she said. "A gift, for your birthday, and it cost me dearly."

"Then I shall be appropriately amazed and delighted at what it could be and make all your trouble worthwhile," he said, folding long arms behind his tousled silver head.

She pulled the braided red bell-pull in the corner of the room. Biancabella came to the door after a long moment. Aramat, opening it, murmured a request through the gap between the leaf and the doorpost, before gliding back to the bed.

He eased her back under the covers, proceeding to add his own long form to the pile that covered her, propping himself on elbows that framed her torso as he looked down into her face, silvery fringe hanging loose, its strands caressing her cheek. "Dare I ask what you found that could possibly please me, more than simply enjoying your warmth?"

She leaned up into a kiss. "Kazu, if you keep drilling me, it won't be a surprise," she said, pulling away in a moue.

"The suspense is making me tingle," he said, leaning down to nuzzle her throat.

"You'll know when its here," she said.

A knock at the door announced that the girl was back, leading the Bailiff in, even as he lead in something that fidgeted and objected with its bonds, another tall, exotic figure, dark-haired and violet-eyed, protesting in her brother's native tongue as he was pushed toward the foot of the bed.

The pale man sat up, his good eye wide with surprise and dancing with pleasure, the other fixed on the youth's face. "That's... that is something or rather someone that I hardly expected."

The youth yelped a startled reply, his gaze meeting her brother's, but her consort replied with a dark chuckle. He reached for the youth, who pulled away, despite the yearning in his eyes, as Kazu pulled him onto the bed.

"We won't be wanting for someone to keep us warm this winter," he said, cocking his good eye to Aramat as he pressed his surprise backward onto the silken quilts.

"Does he please you?"

"Please me? Nothing could make me happier."

"Good, so long as you share with me."

He frowned, then looked down at the young man. "I suppose I can share him with you. It's only right for siblings to share their toys."


End file.
